Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me
Source: The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Topic
From Aristotle's observation that we are what we repeatedly do to Lichtenberg's claim that virtue by premeditation is not worth much, the collection traces character as something revealed by habit and crisis rather than declared. Emerson tests it in dreams; Whitman admits contradiction; Channing insists a man must better himself before he can better his circumstances. The quotes here do not flatter — they suggest that character is observable, that most people reveal it clearly, and that the gap between what we say we value and how we actually behave is the most honest measure available. Useful when thinking about consistency, integrity under pressure, or the difference between reputation and actual self.
Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me
Good company will always be found much less expensive than bad
I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle
When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something
There's a woman like a dew-drop, she's so purer than the purest
A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.
Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
The best kind of revenge is, not to become like unto them.
A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.